Wednesday, April 29, 2015

A longtime vegan, a bestselling
author of twelve books, podcaster,
inspiring speaker and co-founder of a school that actually trains and certifies
vegan ambassadors through her groundbreaking Main Street Vegan Academy,
Victoria Moran is a veritable firecracker of vibrant vegan energy and goodwill.
Crackling with enthusiasm and charm, Victoria brings her message of compassionate
living and empowered action to audiences and readers around the world and she
grounds it in practical guidance and a real gift for extending understanding
without compromising her message. In short, I think she is kind of awesome.

Victoria is coming out with a new book, TheGood Karma Diet: Eat Gently, Feel Amazing, Age in Slow Motion
(pre-order before its release date of May 19 and you will get a couple of
gifts). The premise of the book is straightforward and smart: with kindness toward
other living beings and the planet informing your actions, you are creating an
ethical-lifestyle alignment that could also be one of the most powerful
wellness tools available to us. If there ever is a Vegan Rock Star Hall of
Fame, Victoria will surely be one of the first inductees. Please check out her
interview and check back next week for a recipe from The Good Karma Diet.

1. First of all, we’d love to hear your
“vegan evolution” story. How did you start out? Did you have any early
influences or experiences as a young person that in retrospect helped to pave
your path?

I came home from first grade and
proudly announced to my caregiver (it was before daycare) that I’d learned the
4 Food Groups: meat, dairy, grains, and the
fruit/vegetable-smoosh-them-altogether group. She replied, “Hrumph: there are
people who never eat meat. They’re called vegetarians. I could take you out to
Unity Village and buy you a hamburger made from peanuts; you’d think you were
eating meat.”

I remember thinking at that moment:
“Vegetarians. How interesting. I get the sense there’s an awful lot I don’t
know, and I’ll bet I won’t learn most of the good stuff in school.”

This woman – grandmother figure,
nanny, guru – raised me to love animals and to have an assortment of other
unique predilections (she knew about reincarnation and Eastern religions and a
host of fascinating things). I didn’t connect the dots about caring for animals
and eating them until I was thirteen and attempted vegetarianism for the first
time. That lasted for a summer, but I knew that one day I’d find out how to do
this right and would return to it.

I started reading yoga books at
seventeen and realized that, if I was to be serious about yoga, the meat had to
go. By nineteen, it had. Going vegan would take me much longer since I was a practicing
binge eater and had to recover from that before I was able to do something as
‘extreme’ – at the time, it really seemed that way – as eliminating eggs and
dairy. That process took some time, but once I knew that, a day at a time and
keeping in some semblance of fit spiritual condition, I could indeed refrain
from eating for a fix, I opted to embrace the vegan lifestyle I’d long admired.

2. Imagine that you are pre-vegan again: how could someone have talked to you
and what could they have said or shown you that could have been the most
effective way to have a positive influence on you moving toward veganism?

I had the best mentor ever in the
late Jay Dinshah, co-founder of the American Vegan Society.
I believe that if someone had been around who understood my eating disorder and
veganism, I might have been able to make the transition sooner.

We think it ought to be as easy as,
“See here: look at these horrible conditions for animals. And good Lord, half
the people die of heart disease and we have a way to virtually guarantee that
you won’t. And for Pete’s sake: the planet is dying and animal agriculture is
largely responsible. Go vegan yesterday!” That seems logical, but humans are
complex. We’re not Spock from Star Trek with only rationality in play. There
are influences and memories, what we’ve learned and who we’ve loved, all
feeding into whether or not someone will make this shift overnight, or over
time, or not at all. I don’t know whom I’ll influence, so I share with
everybody, and go to any lengths for those who express an interest in taking
this path.

3.
What have you found to be the most effective way to communicate your message as
a vegan? For example, humor, passion, images, etc.?

We all have talents and we all have
a story. It’s that combination that is a powerful tool for activism. For me
personally, my gift is words, written and spoken – and my story includes
certain aspirational aspects. For example, I happen to look younger than I am.
A lot of women in the over-fifty age group (I’m sixty-five) are very interested
in aging well. I think fresh, beautiful vegan foods – I’m a big fan of the
green juice/green smoothie/giant salad thing – can really help with this.

Now, do I want to share my age with
the world at large? Not really. We live in a culture that is turned off by
maturity, especially in women. If I could “pass” for younger, my ego would like
that, but it wouldn’t help any animals, so I let everybody know that I’m old
enough to go to the movies for half-price and don't look or feel like what I
thought sixty-five would look or feel like. That makes some women take a strong
second look at this way of eating and living.

4. What do you think are the biggest strengths of the vegan movement?

I believe the biggest strength is
that it is so absolutely right. It’s like the abolition of slavery, something
that today we look at and think, ‘Why did that take so long when it’s so
obvious?’ To us, the liberation of animals is obvious. It’s the next phase of
moral evolution.

Another strength is, I think, the
people in the movement today. Whether we’re talking well-known vegans or the
rank-and-file, an extremely high percentage of the people in this movement are
extraordinary human beings: brave, smart, committed, irrepressible.

5.
What do you think are our biggest hindrances to getting the word out
effectively?

As strange as it sounds, I think one
big hindrance is the kind-heartedness of omnivores. When they say, ‘Don’t tell
me what goes on with animals – I don’t want to know,’ their caring is a
problem. They don’t want to see so they don’t have to change.

Another problem is the rampant
addiction to animal foods that the world at large thinks is normal. Even though
it’s widely written that sugar can be addictive, a lot of health-conscious
people take it out of their diet with relative ease. Why are animal foods so
much harder? People say ‘I could never give up cheese. . .I have to have my
salmon. . .I tried not to eat eggs, but I craved them so bad. . . .’ These
foods carry so much cultural currency. They’re seen as having nutritional
value, traditional value, patriotic value. It’s a lot to overcome, but the
positive side is that we’re more visible than ever, and the positive reasons for
being vegan are out there as never before.

6.
All of us need a “why vegan” elevator pitch. We’d love to hear yours.

The title of the first vegetarian
book I ever read was, Why Kill for Food?
I guess that’s my elevator speech. If I don’t have to kill someone else in
order to survive, why would I do that? Another way to put it might be: ‘I see
animals as individuals with the same right to life, liberty and the pursuit of
happiness as I claim for myself.’ I believe that I also experience lots of
health benefits from being vegan, but that’s not the reason I’m vegan; I’m
vegan for the animals. However, if I were in an elevator with some health or
fitness person, I’d get that in, too. The animals want there to be more vegans
in the world; if the health angle works with a particular person, I’ll pull
that one out.

7.
Who are the people and what are the books, films, websites and organizations
that have had the greatest influence on your veganism and your continuing
evolution?

What a great question! I believe that
the vegetarian/vegan movement has been a series of books, and now documentaries
are part of the tradition, as well. I mentioned Why Kill for Food?, a UK book by Geoffrey Rudd that I read as a teenager in the late '60s. Then there
was Eating by Life, by Nathaniel Altman,
the first book on vegetarianism to be published in the U.S. in the 20th
century. Nathaniel and I worked at the same place at that time (1970-71) and
he’d type his chapters on his manual typewriter, and I’d re-type them on the
fancy electric typewriter in my office! And then there was everything Jay
Dinshah ever wrote. His daughter, Anne, has done a beautiful job of collecting
his writings, and commentaries on them, in her new book, Powerful Vegan Messages.

More recently, I’ve loved Eating Animals,
by Jonathan Safran Foer, because it’s so beautifully written. As a writer, I’ve
long believed that non-fiction should be literature, too, and Foer proved that
it can be.

8.
Burn-out is so common among vegans: what do you do to unwind, recharge and
inspire yourself?

I’m not great at this one. I’m prone
to overwork, and especially in the age of email, when it’s impossible to ever
be ‘done,’ I have to put strong limits on myself. In addition to writing vegan
books, I’ve written several ‘self-help’ books about living a more delightful
life, and I think I wrote those because I wanted to read them.

The things that help me are bodywork
– reflexology, especially – when that’s in the budget; movies in the theater
(at home, chances are I’d multi-task); and being with real people in real time.
I love my friends so much – and my daughter, OMG: she’s so busy that trying to
see her is like getting an audience with the Pope, but time with her is the
best thing ever. Something else that I love is reading. I mostly read
nonfiction – vegan books, some spiritual stuff – but when I get a really great
novel, I’m in another world. Right now I’m reading this fabulous dark but
engaging book called Bones & All,
about a teenaged cannibal. It’s by vegan author Camille DeAngelis and is a
total page-turner.

9. What is the issue nearest and
dearest to your heart that you would like others to know more about?

Whatever
animal issue I’m thinking about the moment is apt to seem nearest and dearest,
but if I had to pick one, I’d say the beasts of burden in India, simply because
I’ve been there and seen that and it broke my heart. I went to India with the
expectation that I was going to vegetarian-land where everybody respected
animals. What a rude awakening! When I got there, I found that many of the rich
people ate meat – maybe not beef, but meat – and the poor people ate whatever
they could get.

Beyond
the dietary side of things, I saw so much animal cruelty. I know there’s just
as much going on here, but there it’s out in the open. The bullocks pulling
carts hurt my heart the most. They were loaded down with weights that no animal
could bear, and the drivers beat them incessantly in some awful attempt to defy
physics and get these animals to carry impossible loads. PETA has a special
section devoted to the bullocks and other animals used in this way throughout
the Indian subcontinent; they’ve established sanctuaries for rescued and
retired animals, and when the resources are available, they can sometimes
provide poor people who formerly used animals with trucks or tractors so they
won’t use animals again. This is called Animal Rahat.

10. Please finish this sentence: “To
me, being vegan is...”

. . . a
glorious adventure. I can’t imagine a more ethically satisfying, morally
fulfilling, physically energizing, and spiritually uplifting way to live. And I
get to know amazing people like Marla Rose!

Wednesday, April 22, 2015

Last week, I sat with a friend who is dying of cancer. She is such a thoughtful
person that quite literally on her deathbed, she was concerned about me getting
a ride from the airport (she arranged it) and that my hotel was comfortable (it
was). My friend is such a dynamic, vibrant and engaged woman that even on her
hospice bed surrounded by a maddening tangle of oxygen and hydration tubes, she
still exudes a powerful presence that contradicts her 80-something pound body,
riddled with the metastasized cancer that is advancing inside her fragile form,
bit by bit. She’s in her final weeks.
She is 50 years old.

My friend is vegan (yes, we get sick, too, and denying that is deceitful and
perhaps dangerous) and has been for 30 years; she was an early-early adopter. Behind the scenes,
she has done more to promote and advance the vegan cause than anyone I personally
know, which is saying a lot because I’m fortunate to know some pretty
remarkable people. She’s been at the ground floor of many emerging cruelty-free
businesses and advising them with her sharp business acumen, supporting new
vegans and nurturing novice activists, and in her spare time, she’s created a
very popular vegan potluck in her community. From her vantage point, my friend
has watched vegan culture flourish and expand far beyond the early, lonely days
where vegans were far-and-few-between, scattered around like a few isolated seedlings.
She’s witnessed the expansion of vegan restaurants, offerings and products; the
evolution of veganism from being considered a little-known oddity to a burgeoning
social justice movement; a solution to our downward environmental spiral acknowledged
by top scientists; she’s seen festivals, events and organizations dedicated to the
promotion of compassionate living spread and expand their reach like wildfire. These
things are finally blossoming from the seeds she helped to plant and cultivate
for the past thirty years.

She wishes she had done more, though, when she was able. Even a year ago, she was
still in her prime and she had so many ideas and plans, smart ones that someone
with her savvy and connections could really pull off. She cannot do those
things now, though. For the most part, she’s confined to her bed, my beautiful
friend, this firecracker who has lived and breathed veganism more than anyone I
know, and what she regrets is that she didn’t do more because she knows she had
lots more to give. She hasn’t run out of passion; she’s run out of time.

She could have - she should have - done
more, she insists. More activism, more organizing, more creating, more collaborating,
more outreach, more development. More veganism. Last week, I held her hand and
cried with her, reassuring her of how many lives she’s touched, how the world is
a better place because of her, how many people she’s uplifted with her confidence
in their ability to manifest their values. She was right, though, and I
couldn’t deny it: she could have and should have done more. This is true for each
of us: we could and we should do more because we can never do enough, not even
if we’ve dedicated our lives to it as my friend has. I bump up
against knowing this and wanting to be kind to myself, to believe that
what I do is enough. There has to be a middle path.

Given what the animals are up against, we could never do enough to help them.
There aren’t enough hours in the day or days in a lifetime. Knowing how hard it
is to actually make a perceivable difference, it’s no wonder we distract
ourselves with silly tangential arguments on Facebook and berating one another
over semantics when, if we had some modicum of unity, we could create much more
collective change for the animals. Fighting with other vegans, distracting
ourselves with petty disagreements, blowing off steam at one another, not
moving on when it is clear that is the smart choice, insisting on being “right”
when what matters most is to be effective: this makes us feel like we’re doing
something. It is an illusion, though, and I am as guilty as anyone of feeding
into it. The animals’ lives are not improved because I really put someone in
his place. When we do this, we are squandering our most precious resource in
life and that is time.

My friend has no
shortage of passion for creating change but she can’t physically do it anymore.
At her bedside, she asked about Vegan Street, about our plans for the future,
and her eyes lit up as we talked. As I described what I am seeing, I could see
her imagining it, too, how our plans could work, how it could manifest. Her
energy, so closely managed now, became buoyant and excited again. Then she started
crying. She won’t be thereto advise us, to
introduce us to people, to cheer us on, to enjoy it. She won’t live to see it.
The fact is, though, neither may I. There are no guarantees. All we have is
this moment. I’m not saying this to be morose but to be honest: we are all one
diagnosis, one careless driver, one strange pain that won’t go away from a
similar outcome as my friend. What can we do now to create more good with the
unknown amount of time that we have?

Last summer, I danced
with my friend and we laughed together, co-conspired about the future and
dreamed big dreams. Last week, I helped her navigate the tangle of tubes
upstairs to her bathroom and helped to carry down her commode, one more door
closing to her once vibrant life. This beautiful woman, my wonderful friend, this
tireless advocate who has done more than anyone I know, she has run out of time
to do what she loves most and this brings her the most profound sadness. We are
all running out of time but we’re just not so painfully aware of it.

This moment is the only time that we can count on. What are we going to make of
it?

Wednesday, April 15, 2015

A longtime animal advocate and
lifelong food enthusiast, Doron Petersan
has successfully combined these twin passions in her ahead-of-its-time bakery
and café, Sticky Fingers Bakery,
in Washington, D.C., which opened in 1999. At a time when people were still
trying to figure out exactly how to pronounce the word, Doron and her team were
slinging decadent vegan treats with a disarming nostalgic aesthetic that blew
people’s minds and had them lining up for more. A pioneer in the practice idea
of changing hearts and minds with great vegan food as the vehicle, Doron has
gone on to win on Food Network’s Cupcake Wars twice, win Washington City
Paper’s “Best Bakery” award for ten years (including 2015), write cookbooks
(the paperback version with added recipes is coming out in the fall), and
expand her restaurant’s offerings from her famous Little Devils and whoopie
pies to delicious savory café food as well, helping to expand the
public perception of veganism as a lifestyle that embraces abundance and joy
without sacrifice.Oh, and Sticky
Fingers has a chain of bakeries in Seoul, South Korea, too. Is total global domination next?

With her new restaurant, Fare Well, 406
H St. NE, opening
in the summer (sign up for the newsletter and to get an inside scoop on all the
exciting goings-on at bewell@eatfarewell.com), Doron is certainly
poised for it. Fare Well’s menu is going to be inspired by Mediterranean
comfort foods made vegan with an emphasis on local ingredients and locally
grown produce. Her famous treats will be there as well, of course. Living in
D.C. with her husband, son and adopted animals, Doron is a trailblazing
entrepreneur who turned her love for animals and her passion for food into a
successful model for conscientious movers and shakers. For this reason and
more, Doron Petersan is a Vegan Foodie we love.1. How did you start down this path of
creating delicious food? Was a love for food nurtured into you? Did you have
any special relatives or mentors who helped to instill this passion?

One day
after work, I stopped at a deli for a fresh turkey breast sandwich with mustard
and Swiss on rye.Earlier that day I had
witnessed my first surgery as a vet-tech.I realized the musculature of the little terrier had looked strangely
similar to the turkey sandwich I was eating.How could I choose to help one but eat another?A vegetarian was born, albeit mad and angry
about all of the foods that I wouldn’t be enjoying anymore.

I’ve
always been an eater. I would try anything once, and then again to make sure I
either liked it, or didn’t.And, like
most kids, I wanted all things sweet, which were few and far between. My mom
was the meal-maker in our home and being Sicilian, she focused on whole and
healthy foods.Most people think of
cheesy-pastas and cured meats like sausage and prosciutto when they hear
‘Italian’.Maybe around holidays and
parties, sure.But the daily fare was
very simple, basic, and heavy on the veggies.Lentils and rice, pasta and vegetables, roasted meats and fresh
bread.Lots of fresh fruit and nuts were
considered ‘dessert’, but special occasions warranted the local bakeries’ cookie
platter, or the coveted Carvel Ice Cream cake.I was in high school before I ever tasted the horrible goodness that was
a Ring-Ding, Devil Dog, or Twinkie.

Every
holiday we watched and waited as my Grandmother, Aunts, Mom, and friends
cooked, baked, sautéed, and sliced.It
seemed as if the cooking would never end, and I waited impatiently.We would devour and enjoy, and do it again as
there were leftovers for days afterwards.I can still taste the memories of some of those dishes, like baked macaroni,
my Grandmother’s meatballs, arancini, and spiedini.Combined with the daily meals that were
simple yet delicious and healthful as well, born was my love for food and the
understanding that food is to nourish, to enjoy, and to celebrate.

2. What was your diet like when you were growing up? Did you have any favorite
meals or meal traditions? Do you carry them over today?

One year,
one of my aunts made me this porcini pasta dish that blew my mind; fresh
porcinis (that melted in your mouth) tossed with hand made, fresh
fettuccini.That was for my 32nd
birthday.While I love making foods I
remember as a kid, I’m constantly learning and tasting new favorites.Often these new dishes or flavor combos make
it into the star-line up and into a serving bowl at the table. Customs are
about remembering and celebrating, right?The foods help to tell the story of where we’ve been and where we are
now. It’s not about the pork roast, or the roast turkey, or the tur-duck-en.Finding dishes with staying power, void of
animal ingredients is the easy part. Doing so with out insulting the elders can
be more than difficult.Think of
traditions as journeys we continue to build upon.

3. What is the best vegan meal you've ever had? Give us all the details!

If I took
all of the vegan favorites I’ve ever had and made a meal, it would look like
this; Fried avocado tacos from Austin, the gnocchi pesto from my wedding; my
Grandfather’s ‘veggie hash’, Korean pine-nut porridge, my mom’s spinach and
rice stuffing, Roman artichokes, Kamber’s chocolate mint ice cream, and
anything my Aunt Lynn makes for me.

4. If you could prepare one meal or dessert for anyone living or dead, who
would it be for and what would you create?

I’m
always looking for an excuse to make pasta, like gnocchi or ravioli.How about a cashew crème sauce with basil,
white wine, garlic cooked on low until soft, a pinch of salt and lemon.Then, hot cookies right out of the oven
topped with coconut-based vanilla bean ice cream, candied pistachios with
cinnamon and sugar, and a dollop of thick, dark, luscious melted
chocolate.I’d make it for Father who
passed two short years ago.Whenever we
would get together he would suggest ‘a nice dinner’.I can imagine him taking a bite, and simply
saying ‘nice’.

5. What do you think are common mistakes in vegan cooking and how do you avoid
them?

Using too
many ingredients and too many flavors.I
try to stick with three or four flavors in most dishes.Focus on complementing and separating rather
than trying to pack everything into one dish.Some of the most delicious are the most simplistic, like tomatoes
sautéed with garlic, onion, and red pepper.What about white beans stewed with onions, basil, and fennel seed.Or, mushrooms with white wine, garlic, and
mustard seeds.Tofu baked with miso,
tahini, and topped with fresh squeezed lemon.

6. What ingredients are you
especially excited about at the moment?

Everything
‘nuts’: almonds, cashews, pistachios, walnuts, you name it.They taste great in everything; candy,
cookies, breads, pudding, sauces and cheeses.Try to name another that is so versatile!

I’m reminded of a meeting, where I presented
our baking book ‘Sweet’ for review, hoping for a write-up in their well-known
food-publication.The editor said "While
I love the recipes, we don’t like to use the word ‘vegan’ in our publication."
Exit interview. Fast-forward four years and suddenly vegan is a-ok.Most notably, a recent recipe they posted for
vegan nut-cheeses. Oh, sacred cheese, flavors so complex and textures
divine.‘But, how could you give up
cheese’ was the question so many asked.How?Just check out the WORLD'S
leading food publication, now listing vegan cheese recipes in print and
online.Go figure.Ahead of our time, I guess.

7. What are your top three cuisines
from around the world?

New York
Jewish Italian Deli (no, really)

Spanish

Korean

8. Who or what has been most influential to you on your vegan path?
Individuals, groups, books, films, etc. included.

My
husband, for sure.He’s the biggest
supporter of the business and the mission, and has been right by my side for
the entire ride. From the early days of pure ignorance and blind faith, to the
days of long hours, late nights, and work-filled weekends, he’s wiped the tears
and helped mop the floors. Creating any business is hard work.Trying to create and run a business based on
ethics and not (only) the bottom line is like riding roller coaster made of
barbed wire (at times). Like you and most folks who are reading, Peter and I
both started off as activists.We
interned at PETA in 1995, and soon after our first jobs were in the animal
non-profit sector; we wanted to make a difference.Peter went to law school to become an
attorney, working to change the way we regard, treat, and view animals. Me, I
made cookies without eggs or dairy, letting folks taste the fact that
animal-ingredients were not necessary to make food taste good.Two slightly different paths; same goal.Peter reminds me that success is measured in
many ways.

9. What issue is nearest and dearest to your heart that you would like
people to know more about?

I’m on
the board of directors for Pinups for Pitbulls, and I am giddy about the work
they/we do.Through direct outreach at
events and the yearly Pin-Up Calendar, we educate the public on the
discrimination, abuse, and homeless-issues for all dogs. Most effected by all
three mentioned are pit-bull type breeds.Breed-specific legislation and Breed Discriminatory Laws threaten our
family’s beloved companion animals.Our
goal is to put an end to the breed-bashing and media-exploitation, and restore
their reputation as the nanny-dog, war hero and all around silly, face licking,
wiggle butt pibbles that they are!After
working in animal shelters I saw first-hand the damage done to these loving
pups.Without going into gory details,
I’m haunted by the memories.Yet,
grateful for the experience. In witnessing the suffering I discovered my
mission: to make great food for everyone to enjoy without using animal-based
ingredients.
10. Last, please finish this sentence. "To me, veganism is…"

…About
making choices every day that is better for you, the animals, and the
environment.

Wednesday, April 8, 2015

“The true focus of
revolutionary change is never merely the oppressive situations that we seek to
escape, but that piece of the oppressor which is planted deep within each of
us.” - Audre Lorde

You
don’t have to spend a lot of time on social media to see how pervasive the culture
of glorifying violence against those who eat and harm animals is in the vegan
community. It’s not something I see people acknowledging much, but there it is,
every day, in comment threads regarding everything from intentional cruelty to the
often-mindless act of eating animals.

I understand the anger, I really do. I spend my days researching and creating content to help with transitions and raise awareness about veganism. I understand as well as anyone the
depths to which humanity will sink in order to excuse and maintain the status
quo of our habituated use of animals. The mothers and babies ripped apart, the
mutilations, the forced impregnations, the brutal suppression, the chillingly ordinary
horrors we inflict on billions just so we can have “our” meat, dairy and eggs. Even
in the absence of these glaring acts of cruelty, even with all the shiny bells-and-whistles
of so-called humane meat and animal products, the idea that animals are ours to
do what we will with simply because we desire to do so is anathema to me. I
don’t need the gross injustice explained to me; I spend my days absorbing it
and, more often than not, I lie awake at night with the atrocities I’ve seen haunting
my thoughts like a horror film on a reel that simply won’t end.

I understand the anger and I even understand the impulse to be violent given
what animals go through and how the voices against it are routinely derided, undermined
and suppressed. It’s maddening to know what these animals go through needlessly
and to not be able to get people to listen, let alone acknowledge, the astonishingly
sad reality we inflict upon these innocent beings. I have fought for the animals since I
was a teenager and, like many people, have been harassed, mocked, verbally
abused and even arrested because of my passionately held beliefs. As well as
anyone else, I understand the fist-clenching rage. Still…

“If you wear fur, you deserve
to be raped.” “I’d like to run him over with a truck. Repeatedly.”

I
cannot abide the culture of chest-thumping violence that is excused and glamorized
by some in the vegan community and I’m not going to stay silent about it any
longer. It’s not because I don’t feel the same sense of immediacy and conviction
as others. It’s because I cannot stand the mentality that underpins the violence
and I believe that these eye-for-an-eye sentiments – stretching all the way
back to the fire-and-brimstone Old Testament, hardly a document of progressive,
revolutionary change – stem from the same warped lens of patriarchy that has justified
and allowed the domination of other beings to continue and expand without
interruption. The violent messaging within vegan culture – alongside the
grandstanding, the posturing and the bloodlust – is not part of the world I am
trying to create. These are the shackles that I would like to leave behind.

I believe that using animals for our purposes is born of the same mentality as
patriarchal society, which uses the same blunt instruments of control and violence
to keep some at the top of the pack and the "lessers" below them, serving them. It seems short-sighted to be exalting
the violence that grows from the same seed of domination, suppression and vengeance as that
which says that animals are commodities to use as we wish. Unfortunately,
though, when you speak up against this and say that maybe, just maybe, this
swaggering bravado is reminiscent of the mindset of those who also harm
animals, this is what inevitably happens: you are called a “kumbaya” vegan,
which means that you are an airy-fairy coward. It is implied that those doing
their best Rambo impressions are decisive, strong and courageous while you’re
off in a little meadow in your mind, weaving wildflower necklaces and tickling
ladybugs.

I
call bullshit on this.

If
violent grandstanding is framed as courageous and masculine, then the voices
against it are cowardly and not
masculine and suddenly we’ve got sexism problems, too. If chest thumping is
strong and those who reject that mentality are weak, then, once again, the
twisted and sick paradigm that has harmed and destroyed so many is accepted and
strengthened. With buying into that same violent messaging, we have accepted
the patriarchy and with it, the Old World Order that is rapaciously destroying
our planet and its inhabitants. Our actions are still driven by sick beliefs
because we haven’t examined and rejected what we are accustomed to in times of
conflict, which is the template of patriarchy.

If we keep repeating the same mistakes, we will
have the same nihilistic outcomes. How can we expect different results for changing
the world when we continue to glorify and romanticize violence? This is not to
say that I have the answers. I would do anything I could to protect my son from harm, for example. Sometimes, that might necessitate a violent
response. Venerating pain, suffering, rape, destruction and violence is not the
path to the world we are trying to create, though; it is part of the same limited mindset. Just
like violence does not equal strength, rejecting it does not equal cowardice.
It’s time for a new approach, one that rejects both patriarchy and
speciesism, with bold, courageous, creative and radically forward-thinking actions.
I don’t know what it will look like yet but we have to start somewhere.

In the meantime, let’s think before exalting violence. Our voices aren't all going to sound the same, and that's a good thing, but I can't see that we will ever create the world we want to live in if we, the very ones who are trying to create a major shift in consciousness, don't evolve ourselves. As Audre Lorde also said, “The
master’s tools will never dismantle the master’s house.” In the vegan movement,
there are many things that we are at odds with one another about but violence
is one thing we should be unified against. There is nothing revolutionary or
brave about it. In fact, it is the very mindset that has created the mess we are trying to fix.

Wednesday, April 1, 2015

Founded by my friend Robert Grillo in 2009, Free from Harm is a non-profit based
in Chicago but with a global outlook dedicated to promoting animal rescue, education, and advocacy
through a variety of means: an engaged social media presence, compelling
articles, presentations and more that keep the focus on the animals with a message
of compassionate living that never equivocates. In person, Robert is down to
earth, funny, smart and fairly soft-spoken but self-assured, a perfect
ambassador to the public for veganism. With an extensive background in
branding, marketing and design, Robert brings a savvy and uncommon skill set to
creating positive change for the animals. I cannot wait to see what he and Free
from Harm do next. For this reason and more, Robert Grillo is a vegan rockstar
to know.

1. First of all, we’d love to hear
your “vegan evolution” story. How did you start out? Did you have any early
influences or experiences as a young person that in retrospect helped to pave
your path?

I think my earliest influence was
the forested ravine where I spent a lot of time as a youngster, hiking and
exploring nature. But it wasn’t until my early forties that I connected my food
choices with my love and reverence for nature and animals. It was films like Food, Inc.
and powerful video footage that ultimately provided the wake up call that was
so long overdue. For me, the real breakthrough came from identifying with the
victim. Or, should I say, recognizing that a victim even exists, since we are
conditioned all our lives to believe that animals can’t be our victims. It took
time for me to see how our animal-eating culture teaches us to block our
awareness of the suffering of the animals we consume, to deny the existence of
any problem, and, worse, to stifle any critical thinking on the subject.

2. Imagine that you are pre-vegan again: how could people have talked to you
and what could they have said or shown you that could have been the most
effective way to have a positive influence on you moving toward veganism?

I’m sure I would have become vegan
far earlier had there been stronger and more influential vegan voices in my
life, but there were none. My interest in yoga led me to vegetarianism but yoga
largely ignores the suffering of animals used for dairy and eggs.

In any case, I believe the most
effective way of reaching people is by telling the truth in a way that engages
them. That leaves a lot of room for truth-centered creative advocacy. It has
become popular in animal advocacy today to borrow the strategies of corporate
branding and marketing, but here truth competes with other goals and
principles, like the profit motive and selling fantasy. And, as someone who has
worked inside of this industry for the last 20 years, I pick my lessons learned
carefully, still finding truth and transparency as more valuable and more
convincing than what some market research study tells us. The vegan truth is
that each time we sit down to eat, we choose to either spare a life or take a
life; we choose to violate or respect one’s basic right to life, and to a life
free of exploitation. And life, freedom and justice are principles we claim to
value most.

3. What have you found to be the
most effective way to communicate your message as a vegan? For example, humor,
passion, images, etc.?

I try to employ the skills that I’ve
developed over the years in design and branding to guide me in my advocacy
work. My focus is on creating content, using words, images, video,
presentations, websites and social media. When other people ask me if I have any
suggestions for ways to get involved, I suggest the same: look at what
strengths / skills you have and figure out how you can leverage them to empower
your advocacy.

4. What do you think are the biggest strengths of the vegan movement?

I think the most promising strength
we can leverage is our connection with other successful social movements. While
there are important differences among them, the similarities are far more
striking. We need to keep the focus on what connects us, which strengthens our
case to potentially broader audiences. This is the premise of a new anthology
of 26 authors to which I also contributed called Circles of Compassion:Connecting Issues of Justice.

5. What do you think are our biggest
hindrances to getting the word out effectively?

Silence and inaction. I come across
too many caring people who admit that fear of ridicule or some other form of
backlash prevent them from even sharing Facebook posts. Silence and denial are
part of the problem, and a big part of what keeps the problem alive and well.
We need to provide them with the support and empowerment they need which is
part of the mission of Free from Harm.

6. All of us need a “why vegan”
elevator pitch. We’d love to hear yours.

The vast majority of us already
believe that it is wrong to subject animals to unnecessary suffering,
especially when we can so easily avoid it. But we make one glaring exception
and for no good reason. Now it’s time to close that gap and apply what we
already believe to the four species for whom we’ve made that exception:
chickens, turkeys, pigs and cows. Done.

7. Who are the people and what are
the books, films, websites and organizations that have had the greatest
influence on your veganism and your continuing evolution?

Critical animal studies has helped
me understand the big picture and find strong leadership voices for our
movement. A major proponent of this school of thought is professor JohnSanbonmatsu.
Karen Davis of United Poultry
Concerns is an author and activist from whom I’ve drawn a lot of important
insights and inspiration. I also greatly appreciate the work of many others,
including but not limited to Will Anderson,
Lee Hall, Melanie Joy,Lesli Bisgould, Will Tuttle,
Charles Horn,
to name just a few! There are countless others that I meet through our Facebook
page or email that are doing great things as well!

8. Burn-out is so common among
vegans: what do you do to unwind, recharge and inspire yourself?

Biking makes me feel really good.
Hiking somewhere beautiful is less practical since I live in Chicago but gives
me a big high too. Taking the time to celebrate the results of my work helps
inspire me to move ahead. A good martini once in a whole can really take the
edge off.

9. What
is the issue nearest and dearest to your heart that you would like others to
know more about?

Broadcasting
the personal stories of our rescues out to the public. They are the best
stories we have and they directly challenge society’s assumptions, stereotypes
and negative attitudes about these animals.

10.
Please finish this sentence: “To me, being vegan is...”

…the
foundation for honoring our connection to other animals. The least we can do is
spare a life rather than take a life in cases where it so easily avoidable,
such as in what we decide to eat or wear. Once we’re vegan, there is much we
can explore to deepen our commitment to the cause of helping other animals and
keeping our planet livable for all of us. There are far more complex issues
that also need our attention. When we look back, chances are, we’ll see going
vegan as one of the easier and more straightforward changes we’ve made and one
with an enormous impact on many of the other social, political, economic and
environmental problems we face today.